Richmond Hill wins landmark parkland fight
'Limits to OMB authority' says judge in ruling

YorkRegion.com
Sept. 7, 2016
Kim Zarzour

The Town of Richmond Hill is celebrating, after winning an appeal against an OMB decision on how much parkland it can require from developers.

Municipalities across southern Ontario have been awaiting the decision, released Tuesday, that would determine their ability to provide more greenspace and parkland for new residents.

Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow calls the ruling a big win for local municipalities.

"This case was the epitome of the OMB overstepping its bounds," Barrow said today. "This is a jurisdiction that the OMB had no right to be in and yesterday the Divisional Court agreed with Richmond Hill."

Faced with burgeoning intensification under provincial regulations, the town spent two years creating a Parks Plan to ensure enough greenspace is developed and maintained for its growing population.

The plan, approved in 2013 after extensive public consultation, required developers to provide one hectare of parkland for every 300 residential units developed — or the cash equivalent.

Local developers went to the Ontario Municipal Board to dispute the parkland provision rate, however, and in January last year, the board agreed with them, lowering the rate to one hectare per every 500 units, capping it at 25 per cent of the area of the development.

The town argued this decision would affect Richmond Hill’s ability to obtain the necessary parkland needed to serve its growing community.

Bolstered by the support of several other GTA municipalities including Markham, Vaughan, Mississauga and Oakville, the town appealed the decision, arguing the municipality should have the right to decide how much parkland it needs, not the OMB.

In his landmark ruling this week, Justice Ian Nordheimer said the OMB exceeded its mandate and was not reasonable in its January 2015 decision.

The Planning Act recognizes the decision-making authority and accountability of municipal council in planning, he said, and the cap set by the OMB —  25 per cent — was cited without any evidence to support that rate.

“It is the imposition of a fixed rate that unnecessarily fetters the discretion of the municipality to make its own decision on the appropriate rate,” he said.

“There are limits to the authority, or reach, of the OMB when it comes to this issue.”

Barrow said the decision reaffirms the role of municipalities and their ability to understand and respond to the needs of the community and to plan for their future, including securing valuable park spaces to support healthy lifestyle and quality of life.
"Richmond Hill is proud to be at the forefront of this winning appeal. This is the right step forward...We know our communities best."